Colombia's Medical Marijuana Hits a Speed Bump

Coca leaf and cannabis cures for sale in a Bogotá market.
Are the two plants really so different?

Colombia is by far the planet's biggest cocaine producer, and the cocaine economy is booming, more than quadrupling over recent years.

Now, Colombia wants to be a world leader in another drug: marijuana.

The country's cannabis strategy is full of ironies, of course. Colombia was a world marijuana leader back in the 1970s and '80s, when Colombian Gold was prized in California high schools like the one I studied in. Of course, today pot is legal in California (although it can't be imported), and California produces lots more high quality pot than Colombia does.

But hot, humid Colombia has lots better growing conditions than do temperate nations like the U.S.,

Canada and Europe, where marijuana is increasingly legal or tolerated. In particular, Colombia has drawn lots of investment from Canada, which is in the process of legalizing recreational cannabis, altho the Canadians are careful to stress that their Colombian investments involve only medicinal marijuana.

Colombia's cocaine industry continues costing the country immense amounts of money to pay for carnage and law enforcement, while its marijuana businesses will soon be paying taxes and creating legal employment, like the tobacco and alcohol industries.

Is there a lesson here about the best way to manage mind-altering substances?

Colombia's cannabis industry suffered a black eye a few weeks ago when a group of Israeli cannabis tourists and their guide were kidnapped after visiting a medicinal marijuana plantation near Cali. The kidnappers, who were apparently dissident FARC guerrillas, released the tourists but killed the guide, after demanding an astronomical ransom from her family. Whether the kidnappers were motivated by money or paranoia about strangers entering their region is not clear. But the tragedy was only marginally related to marijuana, which was what drew the tourists into the troubled region, but did not cause the crime.

Mónica Berenice Blanco Sossa,
murdered Argentine-Colombian tourist guide. 

Some have suggested that the tragedy was the fault of the guide and the tourists for pursuing mind-altering substances. That's an interesting sentiment. I'll wait for them to prohibit tourists from consuming alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, as well.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Off-Limits Colombia

Stay out of the dark regions!

The U.S. government approves of its citizens visiting Colombia - but not all of it. Four departments, located on the Venezuelan border and Pacific Coast regions, are supposed to be off limits.

While the U.S. directive generated protests from some of the forbidden regions, it actually generated relief from many more Colombians, who were happy that most of the country was in the 'visit with caution' category. That certainly would not have been true a few years ago.

Of course, the reality is much more subtle and complex. Colombia's Pacific Coast does suffer lots of violence, so why are only two of its departments on the no-go list? The region has been attracting growing numbers of tourists in recent years thanks to its fishing, surfing and spectacular whale watching, and nobody's told me of having had any problems there. Why didn't the U.S. State Department instead advise potential travelers to go there only with an agency which knows the area? After all, you can just as easily fall victim to crime in Bogotá by wandering into the wrong neighborhood.

Even more radical are the rules controlling the movements of embassy employees, who are still prohibited from riding buses and from traveling without permission in all but a few parts of Colombia.

Times have changed, and it's high time that the U.S. government changed its attitudes to match.


By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

'A Place for Nobody': The Closing of the Plaza de Toros

When Gustavo Petro became mayor three years ago, he vowed to end bullfighting and convert the historic Plaza de Toros Santamaria into a center for arts and culture, as well as a tourist attraction.

The Plaza de Toros would be transformed into a Plaza de Todos, a 'stadium for everyone.'

A threat? Bullfighters staging a sit-in in front of the plaza.

For a while, Petro seemed to keep his word. He allowed no more bullfights after Feb. 2012 and for a while the plaza was used for sports events, concerts and even, most memorably, ice skating.

However, about a year ago, the sports and cultural events stopped. The only activities which continued there were morning bullfighting practices and visits by tourists, including Bogotá Bike Tours. We'd visited the stadium for years, thousands of time, and never experienced a single problem. Foreign and Colombian tourists enjoyed exploring the handsome old Moorish-style building and learning about la fiesta brava, as well as the building's dramatic political history.

About three months ago, a group of young bullfighters began a (pseudo) hunger strike in front of the stadium, and their morning practices inside ended.

Tourists by a statue of famed Colombian bullfighter Cesar Rincon.

Then, about three weeks ago, the District Institute for Sports and Recreation (IDRD), which administers the city-owned building, changed the building's administrator. The new administrator shut the historical monument to visitors. When I talked to her, she cited the hunger strikers camped out in front of the building.

"When the tension subsides, we'll reconsider," she said.

We had never noticed any tension, with the bullfighters, who are quiet and friendly - or anybody else. Days passed, and the imaginary tension didn't disappear. The stadium remained shut.

Tourists on the plaza's arena.

We sent a letter and called the IDRD. An IDRD official also mentioned the hunger strikers to justify the closure. I pointed out that the strikers are very friendly people, and, in any case, are on the sidewalk outside the stadium - so what possible relevance do they have to what goes on inside the stadium? No reply.

The IDRD did, however, reply to our letter., They justified the closure on the "ongoing process of structural reinforcement for the stadium." Mayor Petro has argued that the old building needs repair work. Many suspect that's an excuse he invented to not allow bullfights. But, whatever the truth, the fact is that no work of any kind has started there - and may never. The handsome old building sits empty and used by nobody.

The Petro administration, rather than turning the old plaza into 'a place for everyone,' has transformed it into 'a place for nobody.' A brilliant move for a city which aspires to make itself into a tourist destination

It's really absurd that one of Bogotá's historical monuments is closed to the public - and even the bureaucrats who made the decision don't seem to know why.

The Moorish-style building was designed by a Spanish architect.

Ride that bull!

The stadium's backside.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Pablo Escobar: Tourist Attraction

Fernando Botero painting of Pablo Escobar shot down on a Medellin rooftop. Today, Escobar tours take visitors to the site. 

The DAS building in Bogotá,
car bombed by Escobar in 1989.

There's a tremendous irony in the fact that legendary cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar's story has become a tourist attraction: after all, the tremendous violence the man unleashed made Colombia a no-go territory for tourists during Escobar's reign, and the cocaine trade continues sullying Colombia's international reputation, even tho the country's since become much more stable and secure.

Tourists visit Escobar's tomb, the site where he was shot dead on a Medellin rooftop and even meet his brother Roberto, who participated in the drug cartel, went to prison and now defend's his brother Pablo's legacy. Colombian authorities reportedly don't like the Escobar tourism, fearing that it will damage the country's image.

But Escobar is perhaps the most famous (or infamous) Colombian, making him a legitimate object of interest. But he should be portrayed as the terror he was, not the Robin Hood he pretended to be. Escobar did play Santa for children at Christmas, build neighborhoods for the poor of Medellin and provide jobs - but all of that was paid for by the sales of massive amounts of cocaine which ruined the lives of mostly poor people in the cities of the United States and Europe. And Escobar protected his drug empire with assassinations, car bombings and general terror here in Colombia. 

Entrance to Hacienda Napoles,
Escobar's playland outside of Medelli.

People from Medellin have described to me the fear they lived in during the Escobar era, when any car could contain a bomb and one could get caught in cartel crossfire on any street.

Escobar as a tourist himself,
in front of the White House
in Washington D.C.

Here in Bogotá, too, Escobar left a trail of mayhem and death. He helped finance the M-19's 1985 attack on the Justice Palace, which ended with about 100 people dead, the 1989 bombing of the DAS police headquarters, which killed about 70 people and the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan the same year. In 1989 Escobar also bombed a plane, killing all 110 people on board.

Botero painting of a car bomb exploding. 

Some people idolize Escobar because he defied the authorities - but Escobar was no hero. Rather, he lived in luxury, partying with actresses, while others died and went to prison doing his dirty work. 

 But, like the drug trade itself, Escobar tourism is inevitable. As long as the fascination with him exists, as it always will, someone will fill the demand. And, like the drug trade itself, Escobar tourism should be legal, tax-paying and perhaps regulated. 

While others suffered: Escobar
with one of his many women. 

Colombia is a free country, and those who describe Escobar as a hero have a right to - but open discussion should make the ugly truth about him win out.

Related posts:

Guillermo Cano, Journalistic Martyr

Pablo Escobar, Still Making News

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Colombia's Bloggers Campaign

La Loca Margarita, a historical La Candelaria personality,
made an appearance at the bloggers inauguration event. 

Colombia is mounting a bloggers offensive to market the country to the world. It's a good idea, to leverage the work of multilingual writers and photographers who are posting on the Web, anyway.

Simon Bolivar speaks at the bloggers event. 

Most of the official blogs, who are listed here, are attractive blogs about food, travel and personal experiences (unlike this profound and subtle blog, which, surprisingly, was included despite its inclusion of Colombia's troubles as well as its achievements). Some of the entries aren't even about Colombia. A few are websites of travel agencies or other businesses, which doesn't make sense to me. Here's one interesting exception. Of course, my incomprehension of French and German puts some of the blogs off limits to me.

In any case, it's the brainchild of ProExport and a good, low-budget strategy for Colombia, and something which would have been near impossible just a few years ago, when the news was dominated by bombings, kidnapping and narcotrafficking and the country was off limits to all but real thrill seekers. Certainly, Colombia still has problems, but those are now secondary to the nation's economic growth, its cultural diversity and its tremendous biodiversity.

How Foreign Correspondents See Us. 

I just read the interesting book 'Como Nos Ven los Corresponsales Extranjeros' (How Foreign Correspondents See Us), consisting of a collection of short essays and personal experiences by correspondents in Colombia from the Cuba, France, Italia England and the United States. The book was published in 1995, just ten years after the Holocaust of the Justice Palace, two years after the killing of Pablo Escobar and with the disastrous negotiations with the FARC still to come.

The book includes essays about Colombian women ('how beautiful they are'), Colombian men ('crude gropers') and Bogotá nightlife (fun, even amidst the violence). The book also contains a really enchanting essay about the Amazonian river dolphins and the indigenous people's myths and legends about them by Brazilian/British writer Sarita Kendall.

But the chapters with the most impact were 'Colombia, a Civilized Nation Where Death Never Goes on Vacation,' by David Lloyd Marcus and 'The Dead Who are Born Forgotten,' by Leslie Wirpsa, both from the U.S., whose subject matters are obvious.

A similar book written today would, instead, be about a still-troubled country getting on its feet and growing economically. 

Incidentally, missing - unsurprisingly - from the official bloggers list is Expat Chronicles, by Colin Post.

Colin, a friend of mine, wrote very frankly and explicitly about sex, drugs and corruption, as well as his own problems with addiction and even mental illness. (And about politics, literature and urban planning.) Colin describes a hidden, dirty reality. That exists to some degree everywhere, but no nation, particularly one with as troubled a past as Colombia's, wants it to be shown off to outsiders. Colin's entrepeneurial initiative in setting up a brothel tour business may have been legal, but certainly didn't help his case with Colombian officialdom, either.

I believe that Colin has had to leave Colombia.



By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

A Tempest in Tayrona

Ecologically sensitive? An airplane turned into a luxury hotel in Costa Rica's Costa Verde park. (Costa Verde.com)

The polemic over a proposed luxury hotel in Tayrona National Park, near Santa Marta, is a telling episode about environmental priorities and voluntary blindness.

The proposed 7-star hotel struck a lot of nerves: there was the specter of wealthy, insensitive foreigners partying in an ecological paradise; that of wealthy foreigners living the good life in a region where the indigenous people live in poverty; rich, powerful, pampered foreigns ignoring the indigenous peoples' ancient traditions.

'Ecohabs' in Tayrona Park (Photo: Panoramio)

After a media storm, which revealed the fact that several of the presidents' relatives were involved in the deal, the enviroment minister announced that the hotel was 'dead.'

But while the concerns are legitimate, it's also true that the hotel would generate income for local indigenous people and that the park already contains camping areas, private property and cabins, hotels and something called 'eco-habs' for tourists - not all of them ecologically ideal. What's more, illegal farmers have invaded parts of the park and the area is used by narcotraffickers for their exports. And rich tourists might include philanthropists and environmental activists who could protect the area's culture and biodiversity. It's sad but it's true that a Bill Gates or Ted Turner has a much easier time getting the attention of media and high officials than do indigenous leaders.

Tayrona's coastline (Photo: Flickr)

More fundamentally, the debate over this famed park, which extends from the coast into the mountains, distracts from Colombia's broader and much more serious environmental problems. Global warming is melting away the country's glaciers and has brought an epidemic which is wiping out the country's amphibians. Researchers recently reported that the fish stocks off of Colombia's Pacific Coast are near collapse (and that was before illegal fishing boats slaughtered thousands of sharks for their fins in the area). And every year Colombia loses an area of forest ten times the area of Tayrona Park to agricultural expansion, illegal drug crops and expanding urbanization.

El Tiempo reports that 70% of Tayrona Park is claimed by private 'owners.' At least the polemic over the luxury hotel drew attention to the park's troubles, anyway.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The Lost Man Who Guides Tourists

Nelson stands on Plaza Bolívar, Monserrate behind him. 

Nelson is one of the informal guides who explain things to tourists on Plaza Bolívar and other central Bogotá historical sites, where he is one of the few who speak English.

With his ragged clothing, drawn face and disheveled hair most tourists probably shy away from Nelson. In that case, they miss not only a history lesson, but also a moving human drama which tells lots about Colombia.

(As the commentator below points out, parts of Nelson's story sound farfetched, and it's impossible to corraborate how much is true.)

Nelson, 56, was a merchant mariner by trade, work which took him to ports in Central America and the southern United States. In 1990, he jumped ship in Texas and moved to Houston, where he worked in a hotel and married another immigrant, from Germany. But, after 14 years, the marriage turned bad and Nelson started drinking and racked up drunk driving charges. In 2004, he skipped bail and returned to Colombia with his savings.

Back in Colombia, Nelson purchased a 40 hectare farm in Bolívar Department - for a rock-bottom price. He said the seller was the widow of a farmer who had been driven off of the land and murdered by the FARC guerrillas. The wife had later succeeded in regaining title to the land, but the guerrillas' continued presence in the area didn't help real estate prices.

Nelson stands before city hall. 

Nelson said his farm did well. He planted corn, yucca and bananas and also raised fish - until one day in 2009 when the FARC guerrillas returned. The guerrilla leader told Nelson that they'd come to buy the farm - for a pittance of five million pesos. Recalling the fate of the previous owner, whose body had been pulled out of a river, Nelson thot fast. He told the guerrilla leader that he couldn't sign over the land without getting the assent of a fictional partner. The guerrilla boss assigned two bodyguards to watch over Nelson as he went to town to make phone calls. In town, Nelson said he managed to visit a pharmacy, where he bought some knock-out pills. He slipped these into the guerrillas' drinks and fled while they slept.

"After you sign, the guerrillas kill you and throw you in the river," Nelson says.

Nelson says the guerrillas have since turned his farm into a coca leaf plantation.

With his escape, Nelson became one more of Colombia's millions of displaced people - perhaps the largest number of any nation in the world.

Nelson displays the leishmaniasis
scars on his forearms.

Nelson then fled across Colombia and found work on a coca leaf plantation in Putumayo Department, where he carried loads of coca paste from the farm to drug traffickers, who processed it into cocaine for shipment to Brazil. But Nelson got leishmaniasis, a disfiguring disease which forced him to come to Bogotá for treatment. He shows off scars on his forearms and how his nose was deformed by the disease.

Every day, from 10 a.m. on, Nelson prowls Bogotá's plazas for tourists to inform. Some give him a few hundred pesos, but one German man recently paid Nelson 50 euros. Nelson said he impressed the man by using a few German phrases he'd learned from his ex-wife. Nelson earns about 20- or 30,000 pesos per day, which enables him to pay for a room in the Las Cruces neighborhood south of Plaza Bolívar.

"I manage to pay for my room, for my meals," he says.

Sometimes he comes to the aid of tourists when he sees the neighborhood's vendors ripping them off, Nelson said.

"I believe in treating the tourists well," he said. "Americans were very good to me when I lived there."

Now, with the recent approval of a law to allow compensation for the victims of Colombia's half-century-long armed conflict, Nelson hopes the government will pay him the value of the farm, which he says was worth 90 million pesos. He's got a lawyer, who will get 30% of any compensation. It won't be an easy battle. After all, Nelson said he paid much less than the farm was worth.

Once he gets his money, Nelson has a more ambitious plan: to return to the United States.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Colombia, a Top Tourist Destination

A Cartagena street scene

Colombia came in second in the New York Times' very unscientific readers' poll of 2010 tourism destinations. One suspects that the Colombian Embassy did some lobbying - but no matter. It shows how far Colombia's come from a decade ago, when it was almost a failed state.

The article's accompanying comments talk about how beautiful, friendly and inexpensive the country is. There are lots of great places to travel to, of course, but perhaps the outstanding thing about Colombia is that tourism's still new here, and so you can feel like you're off the beaten path, and locals are still generally enthusiastic about foreigners. In tourist-choked locals like Cusco, Peru and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, you might get the opposite reaction.

But, Colombia won't be the new frontier for tourism for long. How will expanding tourism impact Colombia's tremendous biodiversity - which is what many visitors come to see - and which is already under pressure from climate change?

Hopefully, tourism can contribute to the preservation of Colombia's biodiversity and human culture.

Macaws are in decline from habitat loss and hunting.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours.